4 Big Stocks on Traders' Radars

BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Put down the 10-K filings and the stock screeners. It's time to take a break from the traditional methods of generating investment ideas. Instead, let the crowd do it for you.

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From hedge funds to individual investors, scores of market participants are turning to social media to figure out which stocks are worth watching. It's a concept that's known as "crowdsourcing," and it uses the masses to identify emerging trends in the market.

Crowdsourcing has long been a popular tool for the advertising industry, but it also makes a lot of sense as an investment tool. After all, the market is completely driven by the supply and demand, so it can be valuable to see what names are trending among the crowd.

While some fund managers are already trying to leverage social media resources like Twitter to find algorithmic trading opportunities, for most investors, crowdsourcing works best as a starting point for investors who want a starting point in their analysis. Today, we'll leverage the power of the crowd to take a look at some of the most active stocks on the market today.

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These "most active" names are the most heavily-traded names on the market -- and often, uber-active names have some sort of a technical or fundamental catalyst driving investors' attention on shares. And when there's a big catalyst, there's often a trading opportunity.

Without further ado, here's a look at today's stocks.

Dollar General

Nearest Resistance: $63

Nearest Support: $57

Catalyst: CEO Retirement

Shares of discount retailer Dollar General (DG) are down more than 7% this afternoon on big volume, following news that CEO Rick Dreiling will be retiring next year. That announcement comes just weeks after solid first-quarter numbers gapped the $17 billion retailer up to test long-term resistance at $63.

Today's selloff is a good indication that buyers should use caution in DG. While shares broke their downtrend at the start of the month, they've failed to catch a bid above that $63 level two times now in 2014; both times have come with dramatic selling from that price. That means that there's a formidable price ceiling at $63 in shares of Dollar General this summer.

Nike

Nearest Resistance: $79

Nearest Support: $77

Catalyst: Q4 Earnings

Sports apparel giant Nike (NKE) is up 1.6% this afternoon on big volume, following the firm's fourth-quarter earnings release. Nike earned profits of 78 cents for the quarter, besting analysts' 75-cent best guess. It also posted better-than-expected sales in every geographic reporting unit except for emerging markets, helping to settle some fears that Nike's target markets are oversaturated.

From a technical standpoint, Nike's modest price action is triggering a modest buy signal thanks to a breakout above prior resistance (now support) at $77. A stronger price ceiling at $79 is within grabbing distance now, but it makes sense to wait for shares to catch a bid above that level before jumping in.

MGM Resorts International

Nearest Resistance: $27

Nearest Support: $24

Catalyst: Las Vegas Gambling Stats

MGM Resorts International (MGM) started the session higher on big volume following statistics from the Nevada Gaming Control Board that showed a 17.3% rise in gambling revenues for the Las Vegas strip in May. The news is welcome given the fact that Las Vegas properties have struggled versus overseas resorts in popular destinations like Macau -- but MGM isn't holding its gains this afternoon.

Zooming out further on MGM's chart, however, yields some interesting results. While shares started off 2014 with a bearish technical picture, that selling pressure is giving way to a more constructive setup as we head into July. A move through resistance at $27 is the breakout signal to buy MGM.

DuPont

Nearest Resistance: $67

Nearest Support: $64

Catalyst: Earnings Outlook Cut

Chemical giant DuPont (DD) is down 4.7% and falling this afternoon, after a cut to the firm's second-quarter earnings outlook after the bell yesterday. While analysts were expecting next quarter's profits to fall around $1.46, DuPont's new guidance was for earnings "moderately below $1.28." That misstep is triggering a technical sell signal in DuPont today.

DuPont has spent the last few months trending its way higher in an uptrending channel, but today's big gap lower ended it. With the uptrend broken today, lower levels look likely from here in DD. Support at $64 looks pretty weak at the moment. A break below that level would put $59 support in sellers' crosshairs.

To see these stocks in action, check out the at Most-Active Stocks portfolio on Stockpickr.



-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.

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At the time of publication, author had no positions in the names mentioned.

Jonas Elmerraji, CMT, is a senior market analyst at Agora Financial in Baltimore and a contributor to

TheStreet. Before that, he managed a portfolio of stocks for an investment advisory returned 15% in 2008. He has been featured in Forbes , Investor's Business Daily, and on CNBC.com. Jonas holds a degree in financial economics from UMBC and the Chartered Market Technician designation.

Follow Jonas on Twitter @JonasElmerraji